Standfest, Tormanen combine for 29 points for Huskies
Courtesy NMU – HOUGHTON, Mich. – The Northern Michigan women’s basketball team dropped a 64-59 decision to the Michigan Tech Huskies on Thursday night, snapping its five-game winning streak.
The Upper Peninsula rivalry lived up to the billing, with the sides exchanging lengthy runs throughout the 40-minute affair. Each team broke out on multiple runs of at least nine points, but Tech’s 12-0 spurt between the end of the third and beginning of the fourth quarter proved to be just enough to take down the ‘Cats.
After a 15-15 deadlock through one, the Huskies outscored NMU 23-10 in the second to lead 38-25 at the break. The Green and Gold answered immediately out of halftime, scoring 12 straight and outscoring the Huskies 21-6 in the third to hold a slim 46-44 lead heading to the fourth. After Tech’s run to start the fourth, the Wildcats fought back to cut the deficit to one four separate times in the final minutes, but were never able to fully get over the hump.
The team’s shot an identical 39.3% from the floor, with NMU going 24-61 to MTU’s 22-56. The Huskies made their difference at the charity stripe, going 15-17 (88.2%) to Northern’s 4-6 (66.7%).
Abi Fraaza paced Northern off the bench with a season-high 18 points, shooting 7-10 from the field. She also added six rebounds, two assists, and a steal. Jacy Weisbord followed with 16. The Huskies had three in double figures, led by freshman Kendall Standfest with 15.
The loss drops the Wildcats to 18-7 overall and 12-5 in league play. The Huskies improved to 11-14 and 8-9 in the GLIAC with the victory.
How it Happened
The game plan appeared to be to attack the paint early and often for both teams, as the first 24 points (12 FG’s) and 13 of 14 made shots in the opening frame came down low. Sarah Newcomer and Fraaza got the Wildcats going, scoring the first 11 to lead 11-8 five minutes in. A Tech triple with 2:08 on the first quarter clock was the lone FG outside of the paint, and the team’s were tied 15-15 going to the second. NMU shot 7-14.
Northern’s shooting cooled off in the second, going 4-18 (22.2%). The Huskies took advantage, scoring 12 straight to build a double-digit lead. Tech shot 8-12 (66.7%) overall in the second and carried a 38-25 lead into the break.
The shooting success flipped in the third, as the ‘Cats went 8-12 (66.7%) to the Huskies’ 2-11 (18.2%). NMU scored the first dozen and held its largest lead of 46-40 with 1:42 to go in the quarter. Tech’s first points came at the free line at 3:52 and they didn’t connect on a shot until the 1:32 mark, going empty on its first eight attempts. NMU outscored the Huskies 21-6 in the quarter to lead 46-44.
Michigan Tech scored the final four points of the third and carried that momentum into the fourth, rattling off the first eight points to regain the edge, 52-46, with 7:35 left. The Wildcats cut the deficit to one, 53-52, with 4:15 to play, and would trim it to one three more times at 2:39, 1:57, and 1:02, but the Huskies converted on two field goals deep in the shot clock in the final 90 seconds and got the job done at the charity stripe to hold onto its lead until the finish line.
Up Next
The final road trip of the regular season is here, as the ‘Cats will get ready to head to the Windy City to take on Roosevelt on Monday before remaining on the road to take on Purdue Northwest and Parkside next weekend to close out the lengthy trip.
Michigan Tech visits Roosevelt Saturday.
